SDP’s John Tan wants to hold PAP ministers accountable for every issue

Singapore Democratic Party candidate for Sembawang GRC John Tan promised to hold the PAP ministers accountable for every single issue, whether they are responsible directly or not if his team is elected into parliament during the SDP rally at Clementi stadium which attracted a record crowd of more than 10,000 people:

Taking a swipe at his opponent in Sembawang GRC Khaw Boon Wan for saying that the rising cost of living was a ‘global problem’, Mr Tan said it is a ‘lame’ answer and urged voters to make the PAP ministers more accountable to them.

“Just because it is a global problem, does that mean that you, as our government, do not have the responsibility to solve that problem for us? As our elected representative, our ministers, they have that responsibility to solve our problems. They are paid to do just that. You know it’s really strange. In Singapore, ministers can get away with such lame answers.”

PAP ministers are the highest paid leaders in the world, but when things go wrong, they are the quickest to shirk responsibility.

When Environment Minister Yaacob Ibrahim was lampooned for his failure to control the rampant flooding in several parts of Singapore last year, PAP paramount Lee Kuan Yew said ‘no amount of engineering can prevent flooding.’

“We want to make them accountable for every issue, for every problem, whether it is created by them, and there are many of those, or it is just a global problem. No more lame answers,” Mr Tan said to thunderous applause from the crowd.

With the two opposition MPs contesting in GRCs, there is a likelihood that the PAP may win all the 82 contested seats on 7 May and Singaporeans will end up with no elected opposition MP in parliament to speak up for them for the first time since 1981.